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Dental Implants

As an alternative to traditional dentures, dental implants offer a permanent solution to mouth restoration when teeth have little or no chance for salvaging. Since there are some clear advantages to implants over dentures, they are slowly becoming a viable replacement.

Dental implants by definition are small small appliances that are implanted into the upper and lower jaw. In truth, a dental implant is really nothing more than a metal screw that is placed into the bone of the jaw that acts as an anchor for a false tooth, or a group of false teeth.

Especially for those with badly fitting or loose dentures, implants may be a more beneficial alternative to dentures in order to replace missing teeth. There are several things that implants have the capacity to accomplish.

Implants can aid proper chewing

Implants can act as a better anchor for fixed bridge work or even removable dentures

Dental implants mimic the feel of natural teeth better than most denture work

Implants are proven to promote self confidence when appearance and speech are greatly improved

In order for someone to be considered a worthy candidate for dental implants, there are many variables that need to be considered. Patients must be healthy, avoid heavy drinking and smoking, and should have the ability to heal well. Healing abilities affected by disease can affect how successful an implant is. It's important that proper care is taken and a correct diagnosis is made prior to implants in order to prevent complications. Placement and technique depends on the patient, and consideration should be taken on a case by case basis.

The success of dental implants depends largely on where the implant is placed, and what they are expected to accomplish. Implants succeed most in the front of the lower jaw, and although the rate is still significant, it is lessened in other areas of the mouth. There aren't very many things that can go wrong when it comes to implants, and what does go wrong only accounts for a reported 5% of the procedures done. Complications are a rarity. On occasion, they can fail to integrate into the bone and fall out. Implants sometimes fracture and break and infection can be the result of the procedure.